


Not Even Subtext

by ClassyFangirl



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Fantasizing, Flirting, M/M, Masturbation, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-15
Updated: 2013-10-15
Packaged: 2017-12-29 13:14:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1005847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClassyFangirl/pseuds/ClassyFangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newt is flirting with Hermann. Hermann thinks he is being teased. Geniuses aren't necessarily smart about everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Even Subtext

Newton is a person who constantly makes jokes, no matter how inappropriate, and Hermann is rather frustrated by it. Either they get into an immediate fight, or Hermann ignores him until Newt accuses him of being “a frigid dickhole” (what an idiotic phrase) and they fight. Neither option particularly pleases Hermann.

What’s worse is that, after the last ten years, Hermann is beginning to come to terms with his...affection for Newt. His fondness for him. Damn it all, his _attraction_ to him, which doesn’t even have the courtesy to remain purely physical- Hermann is _in love_ with the man, to his absolute dismay. He very much does not _want_ to be in love with him, but he cannot seem to control himself in such a way. Hermann has accepted the fact that he will die alone and bitter because of Newton Geiszler.

Then it all goes to hell.

Hermann blames Tendo just as much as he blames Newton, because Tendo started it. “Trouble in paradise?” he asks when he walks in on one of their arguments. “You oughta try couple’s counseling.”

“Ha,” Newt snaps. “Friggin’ hilarious. What do _you_ know about couple’s counseling, Mister Perfect Marriage?”

Tendo shrugs, grinning. “Fair point. But really- is this a war zone? Should I be wearing a helmet?”

Newt waves the question off. “Nah. It’s all right, me and Hermann love each other deep down.”

Hermann freezes at his chalkboard, his back stiffening. Does Newt _know_?

But Tendo laughs, and Hermann realizes that’s what it is- a joke. Newt is making a _joke_. “Right, I bet. Anyway, the Marshall sent me down to get your signature for some lab equipment coming in.”

Hermann tunes them out after that, everything drowned out by the desperate _thump-thump_ of his own heart.

After that, Newt jokes about their nonexistent relationship even more, even if no one else is around. “Hermann, baby, could you toss me the scalpel I left on your desk?” he asks.

“One- I am _not_ an infant, and two, I am not throwing a sharp object at you, no matter how much I might like to.”

Newt pouts at him. “Aw, c’mon, cutie, I know you don’t mean that. Don’t you love me, Hermann?”

Hermann feels his heart wrench inside his chest. He whips the scalpel across the room with more force than is strictly necessary, but Newt just grins at him.

“Thanks, babe! I knew I could count on you.”

And so on. Endless jokes and teasing and pet names- it is _unbearable_. The worst of it is one night, when they are drinking with the Kaidanovskys- hard, home-brewed vodka that makes Hermann’s blood burn -and Newt swings an arm around Hermann’s shoulders.

“I love this man,” Newt declares to Aleksis and Sasha’s smiling faces. “And- and he _loooves_ me. Isn’t that right, sugarlips?”

Hermann scowls at him, but he does not shrug Newt’s arm off. “You are insufferable. He is insufferable,” he repeats to the Kaidanovskys, who laugh and repeat it to their techs, most of whom do not speak English very well.

“Very cute,” Sasha says. “You are very sweet couple.”

“We’re not- we’re not actually-”

“I know, right?” Newt says brightly. “Hermann is...so smart. The smartest! Besides me. I’ve got six doctorates.”

“Quality, not quantity, Doctor Geiszler,” Hermann says. “ _That_ is what counts.”

Newt sticks his tongue out at him. Nothing about a tongue is particularly attractive, but Newt’s is bright red, and, from this close, seems to have been pierced once. Hermann...doesn’t know how he feels about that.

“You’re an asshole, Hermann,” Newt says. “But it’s okay. I forgive you. ‘Cause I love you.”

Aleksis lets out a rumbling laugh, like a clap of thunder. “Little scientists much in love!” he says. “Is sweet. Much romantic.”

They keep drinking and joking all through the night, and Hermann thinks his face is going to burn off from annoyance and embarrassment, but he never moves Newt’s arm from his shoulders until they stagger back to their separate rooms hours later.

“G’night, Hermann,” Newt says. “Love you.”

“Good night, Newton. Get some damn sleep.”

Hermann is drunk enough to allow himself to fantasize about Newt that night. When he is in bed, Hermann carefully pushes his hand past the waistband of his pajama pants to grasp his cock. He masturbates and pretends it is Newt’s hand, then his mouth, and Newt would make noises even while sucking cock, because that is so very _Newton_. Hermann has never been with someone with a tongue piercing, but he imagines how it might feel, a little stud rubbing against his cock, while Newt looks up at him with teasing eyes. That is enough to drive Hermann to orgasm, and he comes while whispering Newt’s name.

He showers again to rid the musk of sex from his body, so he does not feel guilty later.

Things come to a head a few weeks later. They’re alone in the lab, working rather quietly for once, when Newt says, “You’ve got such nice hands.”

Hermann pauses in his calculations and glances over his shoulder to look at Newt. “Excuse me?”

Newt shrugs. “What? You do. You’ve got nice hands. I dunno.”

Hermann feels a flush rise to his cheeks. “Newton-”

“And a good face, too, I gotta say-”

“Newton.”

“And I bet you look nice under all your stupid layers, like, skinny but not _bad_ skinny-”

_“Doctor Geiszler!”_

Newt finally stops talking, and he stares at Hermann.

Hermann can feel his fists shaking. “I have tolerated this foolishness long enough,” he says, trying to keep the quaver out of his voice. “However, I do _not_ appreciate being mocked, and I would prefer that you respect that- respect _something,_ for once in your life.”

“Hermann, no, I didn’t-”

“Doctor Geiszler. Do _not_.”

Newt stares, then nods. “Sure. Okay. Fine, then, whatever.” And he goes back to his work, tearing at the organs far more forcefully than he needs to.

Hermann takes a deep breath, then returns to his calculations.

 

ooo

 

The Drift-

_this can work I can do this I can say it without ever saying it it’ll be great_

_he’s so cute when he’s drunk he’s got a dumb little smile_

_today today I’m gonna do it he’ll have to-_

_oh god oh god oh god I fucked up I fucked it all up oh god oh_ god _he hates me he hates me shit-_

And then the hivemind, huge and overwhelming.

 

ooo

 

When the Breach is closed, Newt and Hermann find themselves lying in the same bed without even meaning to, honestly unsure how they got there in the first place. Newt presses his hands to Hermann’s flat, skinny chest and says, “Please tell me you saw what I feel, because, man, this has been _awful_ and I just- I just need us both to know we don’t actually fucking hate each other-”

Hermann shuts him up with a kiss. “You need to be straightforward with me,” he says, his lips still brushing Newt’s. “I’m...not good at ambiguity.”

Newt laughs, sounding surprised. “Not good at- are you fucking kidding me? You had me going back and forth for _years,_ man, all ‘he loves me, he loves me not’ kinda shit, it was terrible!”

Hermann smiles and touches Newt’s chin. “I suppose we _both_ need to work on being straightforward, then.”

“Yeah. Yeah, we do. I’ll start.” Newt wraps his arms around Hermann’s middle, even though it’s awkward with them both lying down. “Hermann Gottlieb, I fucking love you. With every inch of me, especially the squishy organ parts that you’d hate.”

“Newton Geiszler,” Hermann says, “I love you. From here to the very last digit of pi.”

Newt grins at him and bumps their noses together. “Good. I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

“As am I.” Hermann presses their foreheads together and they breathe together, in and out, in perfect unison. “As am I.”


End file.
